The Chandigarh Bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that once education cess is added to the customs duties to arrive at the aggregate of customs duties, the question of charging education cess again does not arise.
The bench of S. S. Garg (Judicial Member) and P. Anjani Kumar (Technical Member) has observed that what is required for the purpose of proviso to Section 3 of Central Excise Act, 1944 is to arrive at aggregate of customs duties and once we take a view that education cess is part of the customs duty and is an enhancement, the question of adding it again does not arise.
The appellants/assessee is in the business of manufacturing of Back Plates and Anti-Noise Shims; during the process of manufacture scrap of iron/ steel is generated in the factory and was cleared by the appellants in the Domestic Tariff Area in terms of Para 6.8 of Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009.
The department issued the Show Cause Notices seeking to recover interest along with equal penalty, contending that the appellants are not eligible for DTA clearance in terms of the policy as they did not undertake any physical exports of the final products; the appellants are required to pay Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess thrice whereas the appellants have paid it only once.
The assessee contended that Cess is not payable three times and is payable twice for the period 01.02.2012 to 16.03.2012 and only once for the period 17.03.2012 to 30.09.2013. She further submits that as no duty is payable, penalty is not imposable on the company and their officers.
The tribunal held that education cess is part of the customs duty and is an enhancement, the question of adding it again does not arise.
Case Details
Case Title: M/s Meneta Automotive Components Pvt. Ltd. Versus Commissioner of Central Excise, Rohtak
Case No.:Excise Appeal No. 54199 of 2014
Date:09.01.2025
Counsel For Appellant: Shreya Khunteta
Counsel For Respondent: Siddjartj Jaiswal
